The well-known businessman Jack Ma, the richest man in China, leaves on Tuesday the executive presidency of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba twenty years after the company was founded.
Ma made this decision public just one year ago, when he said that "due to the physical limits in one's capacity and energy, no one can assume the responsibilities of president and CEO forever," so he opted to allow the "Younger and more talented" people lead the firm.
Thus, as of today, the company's executive president will be Daniel Zhang, who has previously served as CEO - since he also held Ma until 2013-. However, Ma will remain on the group's board of directors until next year.
The date has a special meaning for the outgoing president, since he turns 55 today and teacher's day is celebrated in China, a job that Ma played before founding Alibaba in 1999. In fact, the businessman said that when he left the meeting Alibaba administration, will again "direct their energies" towards education.
Some media say Ma will celebrate his last day as president in a large stadium in Hangzhou (east), where Alibaba is based, although company sources assured Efe that they were not authorized to give details about it.
In a video posted yesterday on Alibaba's official Twitter account, Jack Ma reviewed his stage at the head of the firm from the Hangzhou apartment where, together with 17 former colleagues and students, he founded the company.
“The thing I never want this company to forget is the dream. I have learned why many companies fail, because they only think in the next quarter, they want income, benefits. But they forget dreams,”he said.
"It is important that Alibaba dream," he added. Dreams are what make us keep working hard, those that make us never afraid to make mistakes or the setbacks we suffer.
” The relief of Ma by Zhang is part of a plan designed by the company for more than ten years before the certainty that “the only way to solve the problem of the succession of corporate leadership” is to develop a system of government based on the Creation and succession of talent.
Ma leaves the position again, according to the prestigious magazine Forbes, as the richest man in China, with a total net worth of 34.6 billion dollars (31.334 million euros).
Last year, Ma said he still has "many dreams to pursue." “Those who know me know that I don't like to stay without doing anything. I plan to continue my role as a founding partner in Alibaba Partnership and contribute to the work of the association,”he said.
Ma is a partner of Alibaba Partnership, which is currently made up of 36 members who have the right to appoint the majority of the directors for the group's board of directors. "The only thing I can promise everyone is this: Alibaba was never about Jack Ma, but Jack Ma will always belong to Alibaba," said the millionaire.
Digital Newspaper La Vanguardia